A Puppy Quilt

Last month I left a comment on a quilty UFO adoption post on a fellow blogger’s event. Cyndi blogs at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, and every so often she does a link up event. You post a UFO that you just don’t have the enthusiasm to finish, and then pick a person who comments on it to send it to. She picked my name for her giveaway panel of an adorable puppy.

I got it about a week later, and laid it out over the longarm bar to load and quilt when the one I was working on was done. But that came and another one was loaded for another charity event, and I was still staring at this panel. My enthusiasm for it was waning, it just didn’t speak to me at all. The longer I looked at it, the less I liked it. Finally, I decided to figure out what was wrong with it in my eyes, and fix that. Right away, once I really analyzed the panels components, I decided I really didn’t care for the difficult color in the border. That not quite orange, not really salmon, neon apricot took all the focus away from the puppy. So, first up, get rid of it.

I cut the puppy part out of the center, and also cut the dark navy background into usable sections. I found more fabrics in my stash that I liked a lot better, and used a rust in the same family as that orange to tone it down. Adding the first border, I sewed from the panel side so I could follow the first navy frame on the panel.

Oh, yes, liking this a lot better. This rust, brown and navy print makes a nice frame and tones down the garish salmon in the panel to where you don’t notice it anymore. Now the puppy takes center stage.

Then I added back the original navy bubble print.

I once again used my trick of adding squares around the panel to enlarge it. Using the colors pulled from stash, I cut strips, sewed those together then cross cut for squares.

Laying them out, I again made one or two a tiny bit bigger to cover the gap.

Next row of border completed, plus a final border to get a nice lap size.

Loading it on the longarm, I quilted it with a pantograph that reminded me of soap bubbles.

Bound with the lighter brown, it was ready for delivery. Changing the colors in the borders to more muted tones makes the quilt suitable for either a boy or girl.

I took it to a local rescue group Charley’s Angels. They rescue dogs and cats from local kill shelters. The quilt will be offered at their Bark in the Park auction which will be in May. This is the group that started the incredible program of putting adoptable dogs at a local hotel to interact with guests. They have adopted out an amazing number of dogs this way.

This sweet face was looking for a forever home while I visited.

It is so sad that as a society, we still have so many animals euthanized every year due to having too many to care for. Irresponsible owners who don’t spay or neuter then let their animals wander is a huge problem in western NC, and elsewhere.

We aren’t quite ready to have another dog yet, but when we are, we will look once again to the shelters first. Our last three dogs have come from rescue groups like this one. Yes, sometimes the dogs have issues, but love, patience, and training can usually overcome any problem. Most health issues can be managed, too.

Are you a supporter of your local humane society?

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32 thoughts on “A Puppy Quilt”

Taking off that “coral” or “orange” fabric made a big difference. Our last dog was a 12 year old Rotti we adopted and she lived out her golden years with us. We will continue to feed and love the 3 stray cats we adopted in 2012; but no more dogs in our future. I do get my puppy fix when I visit my daughter nearby. She is an animal magnet for strays and is great at reuniting owners of lost pets.

Love the way you changed the panel to place the bathing beauty as the focus rather than having the bright color drawing the eye. Of our three dogs, my Jack Russell was a gift and the other two are adoptees from the local shelter. I’m such a soft touch when we visit the shelter, my husband won’t let me go alone!

The quilt is adorable! Charlie’s Angels is thrilled to have this treasure to offer! I was at the local Starbucks from 11 – 3 for their “adoption event”…..no actual adoptions take place w/out reference checks and home visits, but we had some adorable fluff ball dogs that drew folks to hug them! Carole, your changes to the panel are so clever and made it into a totally different piece. I am so impressed!

I love what you did with that panel, Carole! The fabrics you added really made a difference. Sounds you feel und the perfect charity for it, too. Our BABY Foundation gala with the silent auction is coming up next Saturday! I’ll let you know how it goes!

I love what you did to the Puppy quilt. So very nice. Just recently I took an old quilted comforter I no longer wanted ans cut it into 16 rectangles and stuffed them more sewed and bonded them and donated them to the Crawford County PA Humane Society. They sent me pics of the kitties laying on them nice and comfy. Makes you feel so good helping the sheltered animals. Have a wonderful Sunday, Carole

Great finish! Color changes, even small ones, can make a big difference. Nearly 2 years ago we adopted a shelter dog, Lu. She has brought much laughter and exercise to our home. Sometimes we think we were the ones who were rescued, and we didn’t even know we needed it. She has brought dog hair, too, but the vacuum takes care of that. It is worth it.

Oh yes! We are big supporters of our local humane society–in fact, I just delivered several pet mats I made from leftover scraps of batting and fabric, etc. We also rescued our last 2 doggies and like you, are not yet ready to adopt, but will go to the shelters first. Love your back stories, Carole. And the quilt turned out wonderful with your changes. It will bring a good price for the cause. BTW, I recognize that rust brown print in your quilt–I have that same fabric and still using up scraps of it–a wonderful print! LOL

Wow -you are good. I’m not a fan of panel quilts and this one, however cute the puppy, was particularly unattractive to me. And you magically transformed it into a quilt I would actually love to own! You have a talent that many quilters do not and I am in awe. My sister adopted a wild dog from a shelter in Colorado that was about to be euthanized. That dog went on to be an incredible Search and Rescue dog that saved several people and found some missing people. She even found the missing information needed in a murder case. Shelter animals can do great things just be being themselves.

I really love the changes you made to that quilt. It’s 100% better than it was. That was so sweet of you to donate it to such a good cause. I am very much in favor of adopting from shelters and giving these poor animals a second chance. In fact the cat I now have, hadn’t made it to a shelter yet. I adopted it from someone’s backyard when the weather started getting colder and he didn’t appear to have any place to go. He is the most wonderful cat ever!

This is so much better with your own borders, the squares, and the quilting a perfect finish. We don’t have dogs, but all our cats, past and present, have come from the SPCA here in NZ, or have adopted us.

The quilt came out beautifully !!! We support several local rescue groups and have gotten about half of our animals from one of them. I keep checking them regularly to find that perfect dog for my youngest grandson who lost his dog in the winter.

That looks amazing Carole, you have made a beautiufl quilt, is wonderful you have donated it to a good cause too. I was watching a Border Patrol a few nights ago on tv and the food/plant sniffing dog was a rescue dog, he was doing reallt well.

Hello Carole! What you have done for this quilt is fabulous! I did not mind it as it was originally. Yet, what you managed to create is such a brilliant improvement and really does make a spectacular center stage of the puppy using the fabrics you did and the border styles you did; it is so much better it is truly fantastic! You, my dear friend, are such an artistic quilter, designer and quilter who just continues to open up your wings and fly! Plus, I applaud you not only for your beautiful choices with this quilt; I also applaud you for donating to what sounds like a magnificent charity!

My Husband and I do have rescued pets. Miss Chicca our cat. Mr. Shakes our Miniature Poodle. Two outdoor cats now that go by the names of Miss Hunter and Mr. Zonkers. Then of course, there is Miss Dodger who is the only one who we actually were looking for a dog. Now, I have to tell the truth, we were not sure about her because I wanted a knee high dog and Miss Dodgers parents were a purebred Golden Retriever and a purebred Boxer. Yet, we decided to look anyway because Kevin was interested. All of the puppies were sound asleep and did not show any interest in us at all, except for this small runt that was pretty much buried and just could not get out. So Kevin reached in and picked her up and handed her to me. That was it, that little runt was not going to let us go anywhere without her. She was kissing us and nudging us both and anytime Kevin would step away she would whine until he came back and was petting her and she could lick him. She Chose Us! Miss Dodger is now 10 years old and weighs between 80 to 90 pounds. That is mainly due to the fact that she has developed severe arthritis in her hips and she just can not run and get the exercise she really needs. But she is all heart!

Oh my, I wrote another chapter and did not even give but a tad bit of information. I do know that when the time is right Carole, the fur baby for you and your husband will leap into your lives! Until then, continue doing what you do and donate your quilts to help raise money to help some of the fur babies out!

I really like that you figured out what wasn’t working for you and changed it up! 2 of our 3 dogs are are rehomes. There is less work overall in settling in a rescue over training a puppy I think! Wilbur, we got from Ash Animal rescue was hard work at times and is epileptic on 7 tablets a day but the most lovable rogue and super affectionate – very lucky to have him!

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